Cost to rent a cabin or campground at 12 rental cabins and two campgrounds in the Flathead National Forest have increased. Existing rental fees in the Flathead National Forest have not been changed for over 15 years
Neuro-ID, the Whitefish technology company that provides insight into customer behavior during digital transactions is growing. The company just started a global partnership with TransUnion. The company has moved into a new office space on Wisconsin Avenue in Whitefish.
The Red Lodge Home of Champions Rodeo has been canceled for the first time in its history. The rodeo dates back to the 1890s.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s announcement to close the Glendive Diesel Shop has left several questions unanswered by BNSF. What jobs will remain after the diesel shop closes, what will happen with local railroad facilities and how will BNSF handle abandoned spur lines are some of the unanswered questions.70 BNSF positions will remain in Glendive, though the railroad would not provide information as to what departments they will fall under.
Oasis Petroleum started the year with two rigs in the Williston Basin and two in its acreage in the Delaware. The company has completed 18 wells in the first quarter of 2020, and brought six online. These wells helped it cut first quarter spending below expectations.
Golden Ticket Cinemas Butte 6 theatres opened on June 12 in the Butte Plaza Mall. AMC theaters closed their doors in Butte on Feb. 20. Golden Ticket has theater complexes in Dubois, Pennsylvania; Lenoir, North Carolina; Scottsbluff, Nebraska; Washington, North Carolina; Willmar, Minnesota; and Rapid City, South Dakota.
The Gallatin City-County Health Board has voted to open poker rooms and allow people to sit at bars while maintaining 6 feet from other patrons. Those businesses can stay open until 12:30 a.m. Distilleries and breweries can seat people at countertops under the same rules but are
Small businesses across the nation have been severely hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the impact in North Dakota has not been as great, according to U.S. Census data. Over the four weeks of data, the percent of North Dakota small businesses reporting a large negative impact has been lower than the percentage nationwide. North Dakota businesses were likely to report moderate impact, and were more likely to report little to no impact as compared to other areas of the nation. Nationally, 51 percent of small businesses reported large negative impacts for the week ended May 2, but only 40 percent of North Dakota businesses reported large negative impacts.
Beginning the first week in July, Delta will suspend its daily flight into Williston, ND. The US Department of Transportation exempted Delta Air Lines under the CARES Act from having to fulfill its obligation to provide one flight a day three days a week. Delta currently operates once daily service from the Williston Basin International Airport to Minneapolis, MN.
After a winter hiatus, Blink Rides E-scooters have returned to Bozeman. The scooters are made available at convenient locations. An app uses a bluetooth connection to unlock the scooter and pay for it. The scooters charge an initial fee for the first minute and then continue to add on for every minute afterwards.
Kels Koch has opened the Wax Museum in Bozeman, a record shop selling vintage vinyl and other hard to find music. Koch reported that for the first time since 1986, vinyl is poise to outsell CDs.
Sara and Dustin Harmon are expanding their Montana based business to Williston by opening a tasting room in August or September. The Harmons created Wild Calf Coffee in 2017. They roast, package, and ship their products from Bainville, and they are sold in grocery and gift stores throughout North Dakota and Montana.
Kart Kleen in Missoula is an emerging new business of Jason Gardiner, who has developed a machine to clean shopping carts. Gardiner plans to have the machines in stores throughout the state.
KLJ, an engineering firm, announced that Mike Hinshaw has been promoted to Market Manager for the company’s water market. In his new role, he is responsible for executing business development strategies to best serve current and future clients’ needs. Hinshaw, who works from KLJ’s Bozeman location, has been with the company since 2019. He previously served as a civil engineer focusing on a variety of projects, specifically with extensive experience in hydraulic design.
KLJ announced that Tim Uribe, project manager and project delivery manager, out of KLJ’s Helena office was recently recognized with the Patriot Award from the Employer Support of The Guard and Reserve. The award recognizes supervisors for support provided directly to the nominating service member and their family. Ben Aarhaus, nominated Uribe, his supervisor, for the award for his support during recent events in which Aarhaus’ wife was deployed. LTC Alyssa Aarhaus is the Battalion Commander of the 193rd Military Police Battalion and Task Force Commander of the Colorado National Guard’s Task Force organizing an Alternate Care Facility to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest’s update to its forest plan predicts the forest will contribute about 2,000 jobs in the next 10-15 years. Forest plans are overarching documents that drive management of forest lands.
The Bozeman airport is seeing a record low for passengers. Brian Sprenger the Airport Director said he believes that the Bozeman airport has been the most impacted in the country. While on a typical day, the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport sees an average of 44 departures and 44 arrivals, with as many as 5000 people moving through the airport, the daily traffic has been closer to 50 during the COVID-19 shutdown. The lower traffic as in all cases means economic losses for the community. Sprenger estimated that the loss for southwest Montana amounts to $1 billion.
Missoula County Commissioners have approved a resolution that outlines a plan that would re-establish the North Coast Hiawatha railroad service through southern Montana. Amtrak operated the routed from 1971 to 1979. It included Miles City, Billings, Livingston, Bozeman, Helena, Missoula and Paradise, among other communities. It originates in Chicago and ends in Sand Point, where passengers may continue on to either Portland or Seattle. To be called Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, its organizers are seeking the support of other counties. If another county approves the resolution, the authority would be established.
One business that is closing in Butte due to the COVID-19 closures is a gift shop on Main Street, Beautiful Butte and Beyond, which has been selling everything from t-shirts to mugs and homemade signs – mostly made-in-Montana items — for the past four years. The business was owned by Pat Campbell, who says she hopes to continue business through her website.
A brother and sister in Manhattan have opened an outdoor theater in response to the COVID-19 social distancing restraints to great success. Porter Blanchard, a Manhattan High School Senior, essentially started his own business because they were “super bored” with the quarantine. They had an empty pasture and a big screen and utilizing the car radio for sound and some spray paint to mark parking spaces, and began an open air theater. They attract 20 – 30 vehicles each night. It’s called “The Pasture Drive-in Theater.”
Public access to NorthWestern Energy’s property at Hauser Dam will be controlled to primarily daylight hours beginning in November. The change in public access is to mitigate illegal activities occurring in the area at night, including underage use of alcohol, drug use, etc. These activities create a risk to public safety, interfere with recreational uses in the area, and in some cases threaten residents